PETA forced to take down fat-offensive ads
People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) is being taken to task over its ethical treatment of people. A billboard that went up alongside Atlantic Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida last week has created quite a stir. Like all PETA campaigns, the ad was creating to spark debate.
The ad in question shows the midsection of an overweight woman in a bikini and reads: “Save the Whales. Lose the blubber. Go vegetarian.” According to PETA bosses, if you’re struggling to lose weight, going vegetarian can help you shed the pounds.
The controversial animal rights group is defending the billboard — which has since been removed — but a lot of people found its presence offensive, including The Obesity Society, which had this to say about PETA’s current campaign.
“This ad is an unmistakable example of stigma and prejudice against individuals who are overweight and obese. The campaign is disrespectful and offensive, and is not an effective or appropriate way to encourage vegetarianism or healthy eating behaviors,” the organization said in statement last week. “The Obesity Society opposes weight bias and discrimination in all forms, and calls on PETA to remove the billboard and ensure that stigmatizing messages are absent from future campaigns. The prevalence of weight discrimination in the United States has increased by 66 percent in the past decade, and is now on par with rates of racial discrimination.”
David Martosko, director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, agrees, saying: “PETA’s ad is meant to feed off the insecurities of the body-conscious in order to promote meatless eating, regardless of the humiliation it may cause. The group has consistently promoted a message of animal ‘rights’ with total disregard to the human cruelty it causes. To equate any person (regardless of size) with a whale, or any other animal, is mean-spirited, cruel, and ugly.”
A PETA spokesperson says the group knew that people might be offended, but felt the “Save a Whale” campaign was the most effective way to promote their message of “Vegetarianism For Everyone.”
“Our goal was really to encourage people to live healthier lives and, of course, as an animal rights group, to save animals at the same time,” PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt told WCTV on Wednesday.
“Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman curtly remarked.
